Small Apartment Hacks: DIY Mid-Century Side Table

Ready for awesome new small apartment hacks? Here’s a great tutorial that’ll have you crafting a fabulous, mid-century side table! The great thing about this side table is that it serves a variety of purposes. It can work as a room accent, as a nightstand or even as a mudroom piece. The pop of color gives this classic design a modern edge!

You can use this tutorial to repurpose or up-cycle excess pieces of wood, otherwise, you can purchase pieces of wood at your local hardware store. You’ll need basic tools to complete this quick project. Let’s get started!

Step 1: Prepping the Wooden Materials

The legs of the side table will be painted a different color so you have to prep these first. To do that, lay several old newspapers in your work area and place the table legs. Start spray-painting the legs according to the manufacturer’s instruction. If you’d like to protect the metal details from the paint, you can use painter’s tape to cover these parts, otherwise, spray away!

Photo Credit: thenest.com

Leave the spray paint to dry then proceed to the next step! While waiting for the wooden legs to dry, you can begin sanding the wooden pieces. If you bought a long piece of wood, you need to cut the wood to the dimensions listed above. Sand the edges to keep them nice and smooth then sand all over.

Step 2: Assembling the Wooden Pieces

Place one of the larger pieces of wood flat on your working surface. Using wood glue, stick the smaller pieces of wood on the sides of the large piece of wood. Then, stick the other large slab of wood onto the glued side pieces to create a rectangle box.

Photo Credit: thenest.com

Before leaving the wood glue to dry, you have to use the metal clamps so the wooden pieces stick well together. Install the metal clamps near the edge of the glued pieces and leave the glue to dry overnight.

Photo Credit: thenest.com

Step 3: Installing the Dowels

Once the glued pieces of wood are ready, you can start marking the sides to attach the dowels. Mark out the holes in each of the rectangular box’s corners using a pencil. The holes must be directly on the side of the box. With your drill, drill a 3/8″ hole into the rectangular box’s corner as pictured:

Photo Credit: thenest.com

Depress the drill far down until it goes past the top wood piece and into the side piece. Do this on all four corners of the rectangular box. Add wood glue to each hole and insert the dowels.

Photo Credit: thenest.com

Using a rubber mallet, pound the dowel into the hole with enough force to push the dowels all the way into the side pieces. Leave the glue to dry. Once the glue has dried completely, saw off the excess, sand the corners smooth and apply your desired finish.

Step 4: Attaching the Table Legs

Flip the rectangular box so that the bottom of the box is facing up then attach the angled plates on every corner.

Photo Credit: thenest.com

Use your electric drill to create small holes and your screwdriver to secure the angled plates into place.

Photo Credit: thenest.com

Screw the legs into place and your new side table is done! Set your awesome new creation in the living room as a side table or, as seen in the tutorial, as a bedside table.

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It's Time To Design The Home Of Your Dreams!

Did you ever dream of redesigning your home but felt overwhelmed by the process? We can help! Click below to Access the Space Optimized Free Course “Learning To Design The Home of Your Dreams!” and get started today!